Chapter 5: V. The Highest Realm of Deceiving Others Is to Deceive Oneself First

V. The Highest Realm of Deceiving Others Is to Deceive Oneself First

"If there is someone around you who is more beautiful than you, more talented than you, more formidable than you, and yet still clashes with you, what would you do?"

"More beautiful than me?"

Shen Shen Yaoqiao puffed out her cheeks and widened her phoenix eyes.

Qin Yuan pressed a hand to his forehead. "Big sister, please correct your focus."

"Endure it first, then wait for an opportunity to take revenge later."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao lifted her sharp, delicate chin and hummed.

"That's right."

Qin Yuan extended his hand.

Shen Shen Yaoqiao also extended her tender little hand.

Slap—their palms met.

"But what if you can't find an opportunity?"

Shen Shen Yaoqiao furrowed her exquisite little brows and began to ponder.

She looked exactly like an eight-year-old girl doing a math problem.

"Then endure it, outlive her, dance on her grave after she dies, and bully her descendants."

Qin Yuan said.

His answer was based on facts.

Look at the current great powers of the Fifth and Sixth Nations; which one hasn't played the grandson for several decades or even a hundred years?

To become the grandfather, one must first be the grandson; this is an eternal truth.

"It's been so long, yet you still seek revenge?"

Shen Shen Yaoqiao found it somewhat hard to accept Qin Yuan's viewpoint.

"The Master once said, 'Even a grudge spanning ten generations can still be avenged.'"

"Since Confucius said so, it must be fine."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao wore a very serious little expression.

Paired with her face that could ruin a nation and bring disaster to the people, and her chest that was about to burst her garment.

It was extremely charming.

Slap!

Qin Yuan slapped himself awake.

He always couldn't control himself.

Should he just castrate himself for good measure?

Qin Yuan had a ruthless thought.

Shen Shen Yaoqiao was startled. "Why did you hit yourself?"

"I don't know either. Lately, I don't know what's wrong, but my hand is a bit out of control. It might try to grope you, so you'd better keep your distance from me."

Qin Yuan warned solemnly.

Hearing this, Shen Shen Yaoqiao's long, seductive eyes glowed slightly. Then she pretended to shrink back, issuing a soft, weak warning: "You dare."

"Again."

"My turn, it's my turn..."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao said in a rush, flustered.

Just like a little girl.

"Fine, you go ahead."

Qin Yuan said with a bad temper.

"I..."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao held back for a long time but couldn't come up with a single question.

"Let me ask then. In the heart of the Otherworld, how do you act respectively when encountering someone weaker than you, someone of comparable strength, and someone stronger than you?"

"Fight, fight with some tricks, and flee."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao wore an expression as if she were incredibly clever.

"In the first case, how do you know they aren't hiding their strength? In the second case, how do you know their tricks aren't superior to yours? In the third case, are you sure you can escape? I seem to see your miserable fate after being caught by them."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao imagined the scene of her beautiful self falling into the other party's hands, and her expression became somewhat unnatural.

She asked weakly, "Then, then what should be done?"

"Don't go into the heart of the Otherworld."

"Sister will listen to you. I won't go into the heart of the Otherworld; I'll stay in the academy and be a shut-in girl."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao clenched her little fists with a very serious expression.

Qin Yuan thought, Good lord, that solves it once and for all.

"Ahem."

A cough came from behind.

Qin Yuan turned around and saw Shen's father standing not far away, his face expressionless.

Qin Yuan immediately put on a surprised expression.

In reality, he had already performed biological identification on Shen's father twice (fingerprint recognition, facial recognition) and one non-biological identification (divine soul recognition).

The next moment, Qin Yuan lost his composure.

Because Shen Zilu had produced a glittering feather duster in his hand.

It was clearly made from the feathers of a ferocious beast from another world.

It would definitely hurt when it struck the body.

Qin Yuan instinctively covered his head.

Immediately, Shen Shen Yaoqiao's screams of agony rang out.

Qin Yuan scratched the back of his head.

Little friend, are there many question marks in your mind?

Yes.

"Ouch, Dad, why do you only hit me?"

Shen Shen Yaoqiao dodged while retorting.

It was clearly Qin Yuan who was instigating her.

Right... Qin Yuan also voiced the question in his heart.

"Ah Yuan has ordinary aptitude; not going into the depths of the other world is a wise choice. You are different."

The force of the feather duster in Shen Zilu's hand increased significantly.

There was another sentence unsaid: Shen Shen Yaoqiao was his biological child, while Qin Yuan was not.

"Dad, actually my aptitude is also very ordinary."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao was just talking nonsense.

Shen Zilu sneered: "If your aptitude were ordinary, could you learn it after reading it twice?"

Qin Yuan, standing nearby, expressed his disagreement.

He, with ordinary aptitude, had learned it before even finishing reading it once.

"Earth Escape."

Shen Shen Yaoqiao was just about to enter the ground.

Immediately, she cried out "Ouch," covering her reddening head, and looked at her ruthless father with teary eyes.

Immediately after, she was surprised to find the pain had vanished, as if someone else had been hit.

She secretly glanced at Qin Yuan, who was hiding far away.

Eighty percent, no, one hundred percent, it was Qin Yuan's doing.

He had silently transferred the damage inflicted by Dad.

The stinky little brother she had played with since childhood had secretly grown to this extent.

What exactly had the stinky little brother experienced these past few years?

"Ah! Ah!"

Shen Shen Yaoqiao did not forget to cooperate with the screams.

Shen Zilu sneered coldly.

If I let you dodge it, then all my fighting in the other world these past years would have been in vain.

Bang bang...

The duster kept falling.

Although Shen Shen Yaoqiao's arm swelled up at a speed visible to the naked eye,

she felt no pain at all.

Instead, it felt very comfortable.

To avoid her ruthless father seeing through the ruse, she cooperated by squeezing out a few tears.

Shen Zilu, who also felt a bit sorry for his daughter, retracted the feather duster, snorted, and walked away.

"Are you okay?" Qin Yuan stopped a meter away from Shen Shen Yaoqiao and asked with concern.

Bastard, would it kill you to take one more step?

Shen Shen Yaoqiao looked at him with pitiful, kitten-like eyes, her voice weak: "It hurts."

Qin Yuan chuckled inwardly.

He did not expose her; he reached out without looking sideways. On the surface, he was using a healing technique to treat her, but in reality, he was guiding her meridians and solidifying her Qi Sea.

Shen Shen Yaoqiao squinted her eyes, making strange "mm, ah, ah" sounds.

Big sister, doing this will make people misunderstand.

Qin Yuan instinctively looked in the direction where Shen Dad had disappeared.

After a while,

Qin Yuan hurriedly withdrew his hand: "It's done."

It was as if he had just been rubbing not a beautiful and charming beauty, but a piece of expired, water-injected pork.

Shen Shen Yaoqiao, her face flushed, blinked her watery eyes: "Was it you who did that just now?"

"It wasn't me, I didn't, don't talk nonsense." Qin Yuan denied it three times in a row.

Shen Shen Yaoqiao looked at Qin Yuan silently, saying nothing.

"Alright, it was me."

Qin Yuan admitted it.

To hide for the long term, one needs someone to cover for them.

Shen Shen Yaoqiao was undoubtedly the most suitable.

Since asking for help, one must treat them with sincerity.

After a moment of silence, Shen Shen Yaoqiao asked curiously: "Ah Yuan, tell your sister the truth, what is your cultivation level right now?"

"I don't know."

Qin Yuan shook his head.

His expression was serious, his gaze sincere.

"You don't know?"

Shen Yaoqi looked at Qin Yuan in astonishment.

How could anyone in the world not know their own cultivation level?

"I deleted the memory of how much cultivation I have."

Qin Yuan pointed to his own head.

The highest realm of concealing one's cultivation is to conceal it even from oneself.

Otherwise, what if you reveal it while sleep-talking, or someone reads your memories?